Social Credit Systems Coming to the West

Telegraph: Pick up poo or we take the dog: Chinese city rolls out 'social credit' system for pet owners

Chinese cities are launching a scoring system for dog owners where anyone found failing to care for their pets could be forced to pay a fine - or even have their dog confiscated.

The credit system is already being enforced in the Chinese city of Jinan, and requires anyone with a dog to register with the police - with only one dog permitted per person.

The licence starts with a dozen points and is embedded as a QR code on a dog’s collar.

Points are then deducted for various infractions, such as walking a dog without a leash or tag, not cleaning up poo, or being reported for a disturbance. Owners are docked three points if dogs are walked without a leash, for example, which must be less than 1.5 metres in length and under the control of someone at least 18 years of age.

Animal rights activists would love to implement that system, as would anyone who regularly sees dog poo on the sidewalk. And of course in California, they have to deal with human poo too, but luckily for them Silicon Valley is already demanding and developing Western-style social credit systems, not to mention Google's development of a digital panopticon for the Chinese government.